Value of BA  

Link to the resource

In order to understand the value of a business analyst to a project, it’s important to look at the general criteria for project success. Successful projects generally consist of four primary components: completion within the timeline, adherence to budget, impact on everyday business, and solution adoption and usefulness.

In other words, a client wants to know, «Will I get what I want within the approved time frame for the amount of money we agreed to and allow my staff to keep their day jobs?»

The primary function of a business analyst is to identify and clarify the needs of the business group on the project. (And business analysis helps stakeholders achieve a shared understanding of the organization’s needs.)

Once the client identifies the overall project goal, it's the business analyst’s responsibility to develop a thorough understanding of that goal and ensure the functionality will yield the desired result.

While the development team works to define the technical direction and build the solution features, the business analyst works behind the scenes to provide timely information, clarify questions, remove roadblocks, and ensure functional development is moving the project toward a successful conclusion.

Responsibilities:
Defining scope: Whether the scope is defined before the project begins or during the discovery phase, a strong business analyst is adept at understanding the business objective(s) and the possible technical solutions. He or she provides valuable insight to ensure the critical features are defined correctly and that unnecessary features are omitted to save time and money. The business analyst is able to articulate how business needs can be met with the greatest impact on productivity while ensuring the least impact on cost.

Facilitating requirements discussions: If multiple stakeholders are involved in the definition of a project, there will be some confusion or disagreement about the true priorities of the solution. The business analyst serves to clarify the needs of the project to ensure an overall prioritization is established, thus allowing all opinions to be heard, considered, and reconciled. Additionally, the business analyst will facilitate and drive these discussions, ensuring that all of the stakeholders are represented equally.

Serving as a representative of the business: During the project, it's inevitable that the stakeholders will need to maintain focus and commitment to their primary jobs and have the flexibility to focus on core business initiatives, which may divert their attention from solution projects. In these times, the business analyst can serve as an advocate for the business stakeholder to limit the impact of their absence on the project. The business analyst should be able to successfully represent the business group even in their absence.

Assisting with testing and documentation: The business analyst drives value through the testing and implementation phases to ensure the solution meets the client's requirements. His or her intimate knowledge of detailed business needs, strategic initiatives, and technical functionality allows the business analyst to create test cases and execute test scripts that align with the client's business requirements. The business analyst will deliver knowledge transfer and documentation targeted at the stakeholders.

Allow developers to focus on development. Although the development team can work with clients to clarify requirement details, time spent refining requirements is time not spent developing. Business analysts understand the level of detail developers need in order to be successful, so they can bridge the gap between the business requirements and the technical requirements. This time management allows developers to focus on what they do best: creating solutions.

Managing the backlog: The optimal project will have the user stories and requirements defined at least two to four weeks in advance of when they'll be developed. When this occurs, the development team has time to become familiar with the requirements and properly plan their approach. When a business analyst is involved in a project, he or she can build this backlog in advance, allowing time for clarification of questions that may arise around the development approach, risks, or scope.

Developers, by managing the backlog and clarifying requirements, can devote their time purely to development efforts